


The Night the World Changed

by MaraudingManaged



Series: LF2020 [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drinking, F/M, Gen, LF2020, Possibly Unrequited Love, TeamEros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22633672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaraudingManaged/pseuds/MaraudingManaged
Summary: He left the castle in a fit of rage, his bridges burned entirely.Or, at least,almostentirely.
Relationships: Helga Hufflepuff/Salazar Slytherin
Series: LF2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1628197
Comments: 22
Kudos: 39
Collections: Love Fest 2020





	The Night the World Changed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Frumpologist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frumpologist/gifts).



> Written for the darling Frumpologist for #LF2020 (woo, #TeamEros) in the Fairest of the Rare - a little ditty where Salazar Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff drink, and she tells him in no uncertain terms what an arse he is. 
> 
> Entirely un-beta'd, all mistakes my own.

“You, sir, are a buffoon of the highest order. May the Gods grant me such wisdom as I may be able to fathom precisely what you hoped to achieve, storming out of the castle as if hellfire were at your back.” 

Salazar’s nose twitched as the door of the small tavern rattled on its hinges, the slam so forceful that he wondered if it was magic or sheer brute strength that prevented it from tearing from the hinges and collapsing entirely upon the dusted stone floor. 

“Ah, Helga. A pleasure, I am certain,” Salazar turned to greet the owner of the painfully-pitched voice, and grimaced as the blonde woman cracked him solidly about the back of the head. “Yes, thank you for that.” He reached up to rub the back of his head where her broad palm had smacked him soundly, and glanced up at her from beneath his dark lashes. 

Even in her fury, she was a picture of beauty. 

“I have half a mind to do it again! And worse! ” She shrieked, a flaming, spiking golden ball dancing in her fingertips, barely restrained. Her beautiful heart-shaped face was screwed and flushed in her rage, chest heaving as her cornflower eyes narrowed at him. 

“Oh, put that out, woman, before you hurt yourself,” he rolled his eyes to the heavens, a sigh on his lips. “We both know you shan’t launch it at - Gods be damned, you menace!” Salazar cursed as the bright ball of magic shot to his side from her outstretched hand, setting his great cloak alight. 

It took nothing to put it out, of course. But it had been new that winter, and he’d hoped to let it have a little more wear before someone took magic to it. He’d not even had a chance to charm the bloody thing before sweet Helga had decided to turn her ire upon the garment. 

He stopped dead when he felt the none-too-gentle press of slim wood against his head. 

“Give me one good reason not to burn you to ashes, Salazar Slytherin. One good reason.” She spoke lowly then, and he felt the vaguest flutter of fear in his chest. A quiet, poised Helga Hufflepuff was far more deadly than the uncontrolled one. 

“Mayhap I stayed any longer, Gryffindor and I would have destroyed one another and you know it. Too many differences stand between us now that we could never work in harmony and under one purpose. It shall be better this way.” 

She didn’t move, the twisting wand he’d delicately engraved for her of vines and leaves pressed unerringly, unwaveringly, into his temple. “Helga, please, take your wand away. I shall not be causing further ruckus tonight, and you are soaked to the bone. Sit -” he gestured towards the hearth and where only embers glowed, roaring flames now burned. “Take some wine. Warm yourself. Let us discuss this as the civilised witches and wizards we are, hmm?” 

She still didn’t move. 

“Helga, I swear upon the Gods, upon magic herself, that I had no intention of leaving before this night. But Godric, damn the fool, put us all at risk, revealing us to the non-magical court so blatantly. There is no safety in this world when the non-magicals are concerned and he would hear nary a word of reason.” 

He felt the release of her breath, and all of her tension seemed to ease as her wand slowly sank to her side. 

“I shall take an ale, you swine,” she huffed, and sad down with what he considered to be a rather dramatic thud into the carved chair, and captured it out of the air as he summoned it from the barkeep. She tilted her head back and drew it to her full lips, gulping down the drink. 

“Swear like a sailor, drink like a farmhand, and yet you have the face of an angel.” 

“Do not try to muddle me with words, you pig. I am still mightily angry with you.” 

“Aye, I shall not - for it is all the truth I speak.” 

She laughed, full and rich and warm, and he felt a pain in his heart that he would never get to bask in her light again. “Aye, aye, and all the rest.” Her voice was lilting now, the natural tones of the Welsh valley folk slipping their way through as she spoke. “And how many others have you lured to bed with that tongue of yours, I do wonder?” 

“Ah, but none of them are you, sweet lady.” 

“Ai! And you carry on so! You would not know what to do with a woman like me in your chambers - I am no simpering woman, searching for your fame and your riches.” She huffed, a brow raising as she crossed her arms - emphasising the ample bosom she carried with her broad hips and her narrow waist. 

“Yes indeed; you have your own coffers well stocked and you have taken more than a fair number of lovers, so I will thank you for not playing the coy mistress with me, my dear.” 

“Oooh, you really are a pig!” 

It was so easy. This playful teasing, this back and forth which he knew so well - the ways he could draw a blush, a laugh, tears, fondness. The lull in the conversation allowed her a moment to think and her face seemed to fall more as the seconds passed until her eyes glittered with unshed tears. 

He would miss her so. 

“You really will not return?” She asked, sadness layered in her soft voice, and he reached out to take her hand. 

“I cannot, my dearest. I would urge you to come with me, to find some other place where we may establish our own school, but I know you will not.” 

“I will not,” she agreed, and in the firelight he could see how heavily it all weighed upon her as her skin sagged beneath her eyes, deep lines etched from days of worrying. “Hogwarts is my home now, and I believe still in all of the principles we founded it upon. I may yet temper Godric - though only magic herself knows how - and I must provide sanctuary for the fearful and the lost. I must give them strength through their unity under my banner. My kin are not so brave as Gryffindor’s, nor so wise as Ravenclaw’s, nor so ambitious as those who flourish under your care. They need me to show them the beauty of magic.” 

“Not true; your kin know the value of unity and the power in it, and surely that balance is needed to temper the headstrong voices of the other Houses - including my own. After all, you would not be here if it were not so.” He gestured to the quiet tavern, and a small smile danced at the corner of her full lips. “Though your choice to take all who seek solace and refuge does you credit. You have a tolerance I ever sought, but never managed."

“Mayhap, mayhap,” she agreed, and leaned back in her chair, withdrawing her hand from his so her rough palms could cup the squat tankard of ale she’d nursed. “What will you do now, my friend?” 

“I know not. Perhaps I shall take some time to myself. Perhaps I shall find myself entrenched in politics, though the very thought sends a shiver of dread down my spine.” 

Helga laughed, shaking her head. “You would hate it, you old fool.” She paused for a moment, a thought coming to her, and she leaned forward a little in her chair. “You could go to the continent. See what may be found of our great mistress across the sea.”

“The cheek! I am not yet so old, I thank you.” 

“Mmm, but these marks here do tell a different tale,” she smiled sadly, and reached out to run a finger over each crease and scar that littered his face. He took her calloused hand in his, marvelling at the strength of the skin and sinew and bone that had dug the earth, laid foundations, and lifted up a thousand lost souls until they had blossomed like her garden. He pressed it to his lips, inhaled the scent of magic that laid within them, of life itself, and then laid it upon his cheek. 

Souls he would have cast off; that Godric would have found worthless, that Ravenclaw would have thought witless. 

“You are a good man, Salazar Slytherin. You have only lost your way.” 

“Perhaps,” he whispered, closing his eyes so that he no longer had to face her penetrating stare. “Perhaps I could have been a good man, once. But I think I shall no longer have that hope within me.” 

“Then I shall carry it for you, and wish you every joy as I wait for you to return for it.”

“Come with me, Helga,” he asked desperately, clinging to her hand even as it was still against his cheek, warm and strong. “Am I not one of your lost souls, too?” 

The chair scraped along the old stone as she stood and leaned over to kiss his mantle. “You do not need me, my love. You have your own path to follow, and follow it you must.” 

Her hand slipped away, and he tried to grasp it, but he could not. He watched her retreating figure, tall and full of power; the very image of the earth and magic as her blonde curls caught in the gust of wind from the storm outside. She turned back to offer him one last glance, her blue eyes hooded, and raised her hand in farewell before disappearing into the mists. 

Salazar turned to the fire, and watched the flames drop lower and lower as he entirely drained the carafe of wine, his soul becoming heavier with each passing moment. 

"'Scuse me, fella, but I should like to close up. Reckonin' you got some places to be, aye?" 

Salazar stood, brushing his coat free of Helga's ashes, and glanced towards the dark of the night. "Aye, my good man. I do indeed."


End file.
